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SOUTHERN THAI SPLIT ON EMERGENCY DECREE EXTENSION
BANGKOK, July 1 (Bernama) -- People in the restive southern Thai provinces are split on the issue of extending the controversial emergency decree, with more than 80 per cent of Muslims wanting it to be abolished while the Buddhists, security agencies and civilian officials prefer to have it retained.
Preliminary results from a comprehensive study undertaken by the Deep South Watch (DSW), a Prince of Songkhla University-based independent research group that monitors the conflict, showed that the majority of the Muslims disagreed with the decree as they felt that it allowed the security forces to use strong approach to deal with the insurgency.
Assistant professor Srisomphob Jitrphiromsri, director of the Pattani based-DSW, said the Muslims felt that the decree allowed soldiers to arrest innocent people, especially during the round-up or "sweeping" operations where villagers were often picked up from their homes in the middle of night and held up to 37 days.
"Although many of them were released, it has impacted their daily life. It carries negative impression on those arrested," he said in an interview here, adding that questionaires were distributed to over 2,000 people in the Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces in the past one-and-a-half months.
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Srisomphob said that DSW, which was appointed by the government to undertake the study before the Cabinet reviews the decree later this month, also held workshops and made indepth interviews with different groups representing the military, police, civil servants, businessmen, youth, women, Thai Muslims and Buddhists and religious leaders.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has vowed to bring justice, peace and stability to the region, told a seminar on the south Tuesday that the government would not automatically extend the emergency decree and probably would introduce a law lighter than the martial law.
"We've already extended the decree twice. When it first came to us (Cabinet), we were in office for just two weeks and we had no choice. When it came for the second renewal, we asked them to do a survey, we assessed the situation and with the evidence provided, we extended it but now we ask an independent body to review it," he said.
Srisomphob said that while the Muslims opposed any move to extend the decree, the security agencies, civil servants and Buddhists wanted it to be extended as it gives better protection and tools to conduct ground operation.
"The Buddhists believe that they are better protected and opportunities for insurgents to carry out attacks on them aree limited with such decree. They think life will be better with the existence of the emergency decree, which is contrary to what the Muslims want," he said.
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He said the security forces felt that the decree allowed them to work efficiently to cope with the daily violence and undertake pre-emptive measures using the legal tool provided. Police and military officials told the seminar that there were 7,000 to 9,000 insurgents, with 274 of the 2,200 villages considered as red areas.
"They can detain a suspect for seven days under the martial law and a further 30 days under the emergency decree. This allows them to conduct interrogation and get more information, whereas under the normal criminal law, a suspect can be held for 24 hours only and they have right to attorney," he said.
He also said the level of violence had dropped with the emergency decree and round-up operations.
"But it could also be due to the fact there are 60,000 troops concentrated heavily in the three provinces. The military also said they have 759 bases and check-points throughout the provinces, so it surpresses the level of insurgency," he said.
The government under ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had imposed the emergency decree since July 19, 2005, to cope with separatists who staged daily violence. Since then, the decree, which gives the security agencies widespread powers to arrest and detain suspects and grant them immunity from prosecution, has been renewed every three months.
More than 3,500 people had died since January, 2004 ,when separatist groups resumed armed campaign to seek independence for the three Muslim majority provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. Thailand has spent 109 billion baht in the past five years to deal with the insurgency.
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